(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display and a thin film transistor array panel therefor.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A typical liquid crystal display (“LCD”) includes an upper panel provided with a common electrode and an array of color filters, a lower panel provided with a plurality of thin film transistors (“TFTs) and a plurality of pixel electrodes, and a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween. The pixel electrodes and the common electrode are supplied with electric voltages and the voltage difference therebetween causes electric field. The variation of the electric field changes the orientations of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer, and thus it changes the transmittance of light passing through the liquid crystal layer. As a result, the LCD displays desired images by adjusting the voltage difference between the pixel electrodes and the common electrode.
Since the LCD has disadvantages of narrow viewing angle and poor lateral visibility, several techniques for improving these disadvantages have been developed. Among these techniques, the provision of cutouts or projections on the pixel electrodes and the common electrode opposite each other along with the vertical alignment of the liquid crystal molecules with respect to the panels is promising.
The cutouts provided at the pixel electrodes and the common electrode induce fringe field, which disperses the tilt directions of the liquid crystal molecules to give wide viewing angle. The provision of the projections on the pixel electrode and the common electrode distorts the electric field to adjust the tilt directions of the liquid crystal molecules. The liquid crystal layer of the LCD provided with the cutouts or the protrusions is divided into a plurality of domains based on the tilt directions of the liquid crystal molecules.
However, the lateral visibility of these conventional LCDs is still poor since the tilt angles of the liquid crystal molecules even in the different domains are the same for the same voltages applied to the pixel electrodes.